This paper summarizes current knowledge of the distribution of obsidian in prehistoric Bohemia (Czech Republic). In terms of this raw material’s distribution, Bohemia is a peripheral area, and it is also the westernmost part of its regular archaeological occurrence. Because of its rarity within the specified area, it is possible to identify this material quite easily even in earlier archaeological literature, and together with new discoveries, to create a coherent picture of its distribution. So far, only two locations in Bohemia have been described where the processing of raw obsidian material is documented. Both these sites are located in the eastern part of the study area; in terms of location these are the closest sites to the anticipated sources. The sites are dated to a later stage of the Stroked Pottery culture. Because no such processing sites are known from other periods, we believe it was mainly the distribution of entire blanks and pre-prepared cores that took place at that time.

Furthermore, our study discusses the original sources of obsidian in terms of the region that is being monitored. In accordance with the aims of our investigation, the selected obsidian artefacts were subjected to geochemical analysis to identify their origins. The peak of the distribution is the period of the Stroked Pottery culture (4900–4500/4400 cal BC). The basic outcome of the geochemical analysis is the identification of at least two sources of raw material in the Carpathian source area.

This paper presents the first results of a new lithic study of the site of Kašov-Čepegov I (KČ-I) in eastern Slovakia. Excavations at Kašov were conducted by Ladislav Bánesz during the mid-1980s after finds were made during the digging of a drainage ditch (Bánesz 1991). Archaeological excavation exposed a pit that contained several concentrations of hundreds of obsidian artefacts associated with decorated pottery sherds belonging to the Bükk culture (šiška 1991). Exploitation of, and trade in, obsidian is usually linked to this culture. Previous analyses of the chipped stone industries from various sites have shown that obsidian played a major role in distribution networks, especially given the existence of so-called ‘specialized on-site workshops’ where blocks of raw material were preliminarily worked and partially exploited to obtain blades (Kaczanowska, Kozłowski 2008). Technological study of two concentrations at KČ-I shows that the chaîne opératoire of debitage of obsidian blades is quite distinctive and made by ‘punch technique’ (indirect percussion). The production does not exhibit a very high level of regularity and includes ‘macro blade’ debitage as well as smaller blades. Besides the main production, evidence of flint knapping apprenticeship has been detected, on very small obsidian nodules. Reassessment of the material from KČ-I leads to the interpretation of the collection as a domestic assemblage rather than a workshop production as initially suggested by Bánesz. It should be noted that the obsidian production does not differ much from blade production from limnic quartzite or radiolarite described from other Bükk sites. In fact, the debitage of the pit of KČ-I is interpreted as belonging to a laminar tradition that appeared in the early phase of the early Linear Pottery culture in eastern Slovakia.

Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry was used to obtain source determinations for 11 obsidian artefacts from five archaeological sites in Bulgaria. The results show that all the archaeological specimens can be linked to obsidian sources in the Carpathian Mountains in the border region between Hungary and Slovakia. Obsidian from the C2E source in Hungary occurred in very early Neolithic contexts at Dzhulyunitsa, while the majority of samples from later contexts at Ohoden, Dzherman and Varna came mainly from the Slovakian (C1) source. The data hint at a shift from the use of C2 obsidian in the Neolithic before 5900 cal BC, to a preference for C1 obsidian in later periods – however, more finds and better contextual and chronological data are required to verify this trend.

This article summarizes the current state of research on the chipped stone assemblages from the settlement of Alsónyék-Bátaszék. This site belongs to the southeast Transdanubian group of the Late Neolithic Lengyel culture. Over 300 Lengyel culture sites are known in Hungary, about half of which are in southern Transdanubia. However, the site with the largest number of houses and graves is Alsónyék. Its huge extent and more than one thousand archaeological features make this one of the most important Neolithic sites in Central Europe. The chipped stone tools come exclusively from the settlement at Alsónyék-Kanizsa-dűlő. For this reason, only the preliminary results from the Kanizsa-dűlő settlement will be presented. Technological analysis of the chipped stone tools provides an opportunity for the reconstruction of the toolmaking process, which may be the result of the tool production system of a cultural unit. The research emphasis is on raw material identification. The focus of the interpretation is the technological and typological analysis and the aspect of household archaeology.

Chipped stone artefacts played an important role in sustaining human life not just in the Palaeolithic, but in the Neolithic period also. The raw material preferences and choices became more indicative as more complex settlements and societies emerged. Chipped stones in different contexts teach us to take into consideration the many aspects of the prehistoric worldview. The Late Neolithic site of Polgár-Csőszhalom reflects well this combined phenomenon, where two different habitation units (tell and horizontal settlement), two different geographical regions (Central Europe and the Balkans), two different aspects of life (ritual and profane) met and mixed with each other. Although we would like to think of these categories as more plastic and permeable for the prehistoric people, it is worth trying to investigate separately the various situations in which chipped stone artefacts played their role. Through these analyses it became clear that generally the local raw material is more related to the supposed everyday life part of the settlement, while the tell is more oriented toward distant sources. In the meantime, in other situations the stone itself became a medium and bears a significance, no matter which type was used. In some cases, the choice of raw material and technology used may have been dictated by practical reasons, without any other underlying motivation.

The introduction of Neolithic long-blades in Scandinavia is tangent with the establishment of the earliest farming communities, i.e. the Funnel Beaker culture, yet the production of long-blades continued throughout the Middle Neolithic period (3300–2350 cal BC). This paper aims to further enrich our understanding of the 3rd millennium BC in Scandinavia by focusing on the occurrence and significance of long-blades. A re-assessment of the archaeological record from Norway has identified eight sites with long-blades and five settlement sites where the presence of long-blades was indicated by blade fragments and formal tools. In Scandinavia and northern Germany 41 long-blade deposit sites, comprising a total of 529 blades, are known. Based on the contexts in which the long-blades occur, it is argued that the Scandinavian long-blades played a central part in the everyday lives of both Neolithic farmers and Sub-Neolithic foragers – but for different reasons, e.g. hunting tools, weaponry, and harvesting equipment.

In this paper, a chaîne opératoire analysis of lithic extraction sites and direct lithic procurement form the point of departure. This study was originally part of a PhD project comprising a detailed examination and contextualization of 21 extraction sites located in southern Norway. The 21 sites are in different topographical settings and landscapes, in different geographical regions, and they provided people in the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age with different types of rock. I build on the results from the original study of all the sites, but I will here emphasize only a few of them. To transcend the sites’ physical differences and acquire information about procurement practices, I operate with an extended notion of what constitutes a quarry. Whereas estimates of the scale of quarrying and the duration of exploitation are important, tracing the occurrence of the extracted rock away from the quarries in different dated archaeological contexts is equally necessary in order to understand the character and value of the exploitation of the procurement sites.

Investigating lithic procurement from various angles, attempting to chart and visualize spatial and temporal variation in practices, different methods have been applied. An important aspect has been to establish an index of the intensity of exploitation. This enables a demonstration of a ‘norm’ and an ‘extraordinary’ manner of exploitation of quarries and other lithic procurement practices. Furthermore, lithic procurement studied as a chain of operations embeds a theoretical perspective where all practices are perceived as influenced and guided consciously or subconsciously by peoples’ cultural choices, traditions and social habitus. Together with the dated and contextualized sites and procurement practices, this offers a frame for interpreting the results of my study; some practices are common cross-regionally, while others defined regions and/or time-periods. Quarry studies therefore have the potential to provide insights into developing social relations and social-political strategies. Indeed, interpreted in a wider cultural context, it seems that how, and from whom or where you obtained your rock mattered more than the type or the quality of the rock itself.

A specific type of standing male anthropomorphic figurine appears in the Late Neolithic of the Struma valley. The figurines are small and schematically rendered. The current paper discusses examples found in Bersin (n=1), Mursalevo (Gerena locality, n=3) and Kocherinovo (Ganevi nivi locality, n=9).

All but one (a figurine from Kocherinovo) are fragmented. The figurines have stump-like, almost cylindrical or elongated, slightly conical shape with male genitals modelled in relief at the lower part of the body.

These finds have well defined territorial and chronological distribution. They are usually found in the area between the Zemen and the Belopol gorges in the Struma valley. Thus this region could be considered as a centre of the emergence and distribution of this type of male figurines.

Examples of schematically modelled standing male figurines have been found at other sites most of which are in the catchment basins of Struma and Vardar – Nikushtak, Lopate, Zelenikovo, Angeltsi, Dimitra, etc. The closest parallel in shape to the figurines discussed here is a male figure from Nikushtak.

The Bulgarian Chalcolithic period (and especially its final phase) is widely known for its striking social differentiation, evidenced by remarkable examples of copper and gold technology, as well as exceptional flint-knapping techniques. Superblades (over 25 cm long) are found mainly in mortuary contexts (as burial grave-goods) and hoards coming from domestic contexts and interpreted as reserves of precious items kept for future use. The superblades represent products of a sophisticated debitage technique – pressure using a lever or a crutch in standing position). The reconstruction of the skills for superblade removal requires very detailed and meticulous analysis of a spectrum of particular stigmata. The functional interpretation of the blades needs careful use-wear observations and expertise. Both analytical procedures have been applied to a hoard of 11 remarkably well-preserved superblades from a hoard discovered in the Chalcolithic tell near the village of Sushina in northern Bulgaria. This paper offers a detailed description, analysis and interpretation of the blades from this hoard in the context of the Balkan networks of materials and symbols during the Golden 5th millennium BC.

One of the most interesting ancient artefacts are the lead sling bullets, especially if they have images or inscriptions.

The current paper presents a very interesting lead sling bullet, originating from southwest Bulgaria (found somewhere between the villages of Ilindentsi and Gorna Gradeshnitsa, Blagoevgrad district) that was photographed in a private collection in Blagoevgrad some years ago. The lead sling bullet is almond-shaped and is much larger than the known standard sling bullets. The size and weight of this sling bullet puts it among the largest examples of such bullets that are generally rare. Only a few other items similar in size were previously known from Bulgaria, none of which, however, has inscriptions or symbols.

It is particularly interesting that the sling bullet discussed here has a surviving ‘ central branch’ and uncut casting residues, i.e. it looks exactly as it was taken out of the mold. Right in the middle of the side depicting a relief thunderbolt, the Greek letters ΦΙ are visible. They are commonly found on bronze coins of Philip V as an abbreviation of his name with only the first two letters. Many numismatics examples define this lead sling bullet categorically as belonging to the Macedonian king Philip V (221–179 BC) and associate it with the campaign of this Macedonian king in the land of the Thracian tribe Maedi and the siege of their settlement Petra in 181 BC, (Livy XL, 22).

The artefact discussed here underlines the important role of the sling bullets utilized by the army in the Hellenistic period. If inscribed, these objects can serve as primary sources of information for the reconstruction of some historical events.

The paper presents six Late Antique latrinae excavated in Serdica during the last few years. Every latrina is presented with its location, description, chronology and function. This is the first attempt for a study on the Late Antique sanitation in one of the major cities in present-day Bulgaria. Typological features of the latrinae and their chronological development are discussed. On the base of the entire formal, chronological and functional analysis is presented a possible picture of some social and moral changes in the Late Antique society, which reflected by contemporary sanitation facilities.

In his work “De aedificiis” Procopius of Caesarea ends the description of Justinianic fortifications along the Ister River within the confines of Illyricum naming two sites located “at the extremity of the Illyrian territory” – Lapidarias and Lucernaria. The second one is mentioned once again in the following text of the treatise as a topographic marker, eastwards from which the territory of Thrace begins. The first part of this paper provides comments on the written evidence and presents a thorough critical analysis of its interpretations. The second part of the paper is focused on the existing localization hypotheses concerning both sites. They are decisively rejected, as being in obvious discrepancy with the ancient literary evidence, the geographic and archaeological realities. The last three parts of the paper are based on the results of recent ground surveys and the use of sources of information, some of which are non-traditional for an archaeological study, together with discarding the far going misinterpretation of the facts often featuring in many modern studies. Lapidarias is identified as the fortification situated in the locality Karierata/Borunya at 1 km to the northeast of Somovit. Lucernaria was placed in the locality Manastirishte at 1 km to the northwest from Cherkovitsa. The Roman Danube road between Anasamus and Utus did not follow the Danube bank, but was traced across the heights between the the Osam and the Vit Rivers.

The paper discusses ten anthropomorphic figurines that were found during the archaeological investigation of a multilayer site near the town of Varbitsa in 2015 (fig.1). They were found in stratigraphic layers associated with phases Karanovo II-III (cat. nos. 1–7) and Кaranovo II (cat. nos. 9–10) and predominantly represent strongly stylized female bodies. This style is characteristic for the entire Early Neolithic Balkan-Anatolian cultural block. An attempt to render some individualization is visible at one of the figurines whose body is made in a dynamic ‘dancing’ pose and the face expresses a strong emotion (figs. 3.4, 4.4). The typological characteristics of these Neolithic figurines link them to the Ovcharovo culture in Northeast Bulgaria and its variant Samovodene in Central North Bulgaria.

The first part of the paper discusses the written evidence about the Roman road station Anasamus, the Late Roman military fort Ansamus, and the Early Byzantine fortified settlement and later city Ἀσημοῦς/Ἀσήμος. All these toponyms refer to one and the same site, depicting its development and functional transformations through the ages. The second part presents a critical analysis of the opinions expressed so far about the exact location of the site. The conclusion is that the site had always been situated in the village land of Cherkovitsa, in the immediate vicinity of the Osam River’ mouth; on the left bank in the earlier period, and on the right bank during the Late Antiquity. The third part is a synthesis on the Early Roman Anasamus (a military camp, civil settlement and road station), based on the available archaeological and epigraphic information as well as personal ground surveys and reinterpretation of the evidence. The last part of the paper comments the remains of the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Ansamus/Ἀσημοῦς/Ἀσήμος, convincingly identified with the so-called “Osamsko kale” (Osam Fortress).

A fragment of the substructure of the Eastern wall from the Northern extension of the Late Antique Serdica fortification was registered during rescue archaeological excavation in the area of the Lion Bridge square. Detailed investigations have identified three construction levels of the foundation of the structure – stones bound with solid white mortar, stones bound with yellow sandy mortar and a leveling layer of loose mortar and single stones. The stratigraphy of the site consists of three chronological groups: Late Ottoman/Revival (17th-19th century), Medieval (11th-12th century) and Late Antiquity (4th-5th century). Artifacts and numismatic materials date the construction of the fortress wall between the last decades of the reign of Emperor Constantine I and the end of 4th/ beginning of the 5th century AD.

Archaeological excavations of the Early Iron Age site of Kalakača in northern Serbia revealed the presence of numerous pit-features and traces of several possible above-ground structures. A number of pits were interpreted as storage features. Moreover, the charred plant remains in some of them were taken as an evidence of the function of the pits as crop stores/granaries. Archaeobotanical analysis confirmed the presence of a range of crops in the pits; however, the circumstances in which the charred crop remains were found strongly suggest that there is no direct connection between the plant material and the pit-features. No traces of in situ burning were detected in the excavated pits, demonstrating that the charring of plants happened outside. The use of charred plant remains as evidence for the storage of crops in the Kalakača pits can thus be dismissed. The plant material was perhaps charred within the surface structures. The analysis of the type of plant parts re-deposited in the pits reveals the presence of crop products – chiefly millet grain (most likely semi-cleaned) and some barley grain; and crop processing by-products – wheat and barley chaff. Millet grain may have originated from millet stores; cereal chaff may have arrived in the pits as daub temper or as crop processing residue discarded in fire.

Botanical remains from sanctuaries and necropolises provide valuable information about ancient religious practices. The current paper discusses old and new archaeobotanical data from Bulgaria and the use of plants in ritual context from Antiquity. The time span of the 44 considered sites (sanctuaries and necropolises) is between the 6th century BC and the 3rd century AD. Most of the sanctuaries in Bulgaria, where archaeobotanical remains have been studied, date to the Bronze and Iron Ages, and a large proportion represents the so called “pit fields”. Information concerning later periods is almost completely lacking. Some evidence on plant offerings is available from the necropolises of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Although the archaeobotanical data from these sites are quite scarce, their increasing number allows the observation of some common tendencies. Cereals and pulses are most commonly identified at sanctuaries, while fruits are typical remains in the necropolises. Very often imported species (like stone pine, pistachio and olive) are found which testifies to existing contacts with adjacent regions (mainly the Mediterranean area and North Africa).

The paper presents the ICP-AES analysis of thirty-three artifacts made of copper alloys (tin bronze, lead bronze and brass) – adornments, vessels, weapons and several plates, strips and sticks gathered in the category “others”. They are found in southeastern Bulgaria and dated between the 8th and the 3rd century BC. The trend for targeted selection of alloys according to the way of working and the function of items are discussed, as well as some features of technology. The composition of all samples is compared with cluster analysis. The clusters and the data for local production of some artifacts like jewels, helmets, horse-harness appliqués etc. admit the presumption that part of bronze vessels found in ancient Thrace could be local as well.

Lead sling bullets are often inscribed with the personal names of military commanders of a unit of slingers. Archaeological sites that have yielded such projectiles provide an opportunity to link the names attested with historical figures known from literary sources. A classic example presents the city of Olynthus that was besieged and taken through treachery by the troops of Philip II of Macedon in 348 BC. Irrefutable evidence of this is provided by the hundreds of sling bullets bearing his name, along with those of several commanders from his army, such as Hipponikos, Potalos, Kleoboulos and Anaxandros. The present article evaluates the significance of inscribed sling bullets as a basic source in reconstructing historical events related to the Macedonian expansion in Thrace during the reign of Philip II. Through the discussion of a number of examples from Thrace, Macedonia and Northern Aegean, including previously unpublished finds, I argue that these objects can serve as a reliable marker of Macedonian mobility abroad. As a major source on the subject I further analyze the primary data generated as a result of the recent archaeological excavations of the Thracian fortified complex near Kozi Gramadi, located in south central Bulgaria. On a broader level, the present survey aims to reinforce the value of sling bullets as a necessary object of study which on account of their multi-layered nature should invite the application of an integrated approach towards antiquity by combining data from archaeology, history and epigraphy.

The archaeological excavations at the medieval settlement near the village of Zlatna livada, Chirpan municipality, provided important information about the character of the pottery assemblage in Thrace in the Early Medieval period. They provided evidence suggesting that the first inhabitants settled on the eastern part of the excavated area. The pottery which can be related to the earliest structures in this part of the excavated area is very uniform. The jars are of the most common shape. Most have marks indicating that the vessel were turned on a slow wheel without centering and throwing. Two pots differ from the rest and their characteristics undoubtedly indicate that the vessels were made by throwing. Some of the pots are covered by a thin mica coating. In contrast to the opinion that there were no such jars in the Byzantine pottery assemblages, a similarity to jars discovered in present-day Greece and Turkey is found. Similar jars were found at other sites in Thrace as well. The pottery group from Zlatna livada is dated to the 9th–10th century AD based on parallels and stratigraphic observations. The technological and formal characteristics of the pottery found at Zlatna livada provide evidence that it was manufactured by people who had long adopted and assimilated the experience, the skills and the technical competence of the Byzantine pottery makers. The presented pottery group, and in particular the observed technological changes and some typical features of the later 11th–12th century AD pottery can be regarded as an indicator of continuity between the pottery production of the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages on the territory to the south of the Balkan.

In the present paper the analytical methods for determination of elemental and isotopic content in glass mosaic (tesserae) are presented. The history of the glass and the tesserae is given. The chemical content of glasses is described as well as the list of determined elements and isotopic content in glass by different analytical methods is given. A short discussion about the possibility of different methods is presented. The difference between the glasses produced using plant ash and natural soda is given. Some examples of different glasses found in Bulgaria are compared with the glass found in other states. The possibility for determination of the place of glass production using isotopic determination is discussed. Some examples about the possibility to determine the isotope ratios of 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd, 208Pb/206Pb and 18O are given.

Most models of Neolithization of the Balkans have focused on pottery, with little attention paid to other aspects of material culture. A distinctive feature of the Early Neolithic Karanovo I culture of Bulgaria is a flint industry characterized by ‘macroblade’ technology and widespread use of ‘Balkan Flint’ in conjunction with formal toolkits. The origins of this technology and the associated raw material procurement system are still unresolved. Balkan flint also occurs in Early Neolithic contexts outside the Karanovo I culture area, notably in the southern Balkans (Turkish Thrace) and in the lower Danube catchment (Carpathian Basin, Iron Gates, southern Romania and northern Bulgaria). The only securely identified outcrops of Balkan flint are in the Upper Cretaceous Mezdra Formation in the Pleven-Nikopol region of northern Bulgaria. One of the most challenging aspects of the Neolithization debate is to accommodate the evidence provided by lithic studies. Among outstanding questions are: (i) was Balkan flint used by the first (‘pre-Karanovo’) Neolithic communities in Bulgaria; (ii) what role did Balkan flint play in the Neolithization of Southeast Europe; (iii) did access to Balkan flint result in the emergence of a new laminar technology; (iv) how did the Early Neolithic Balkan flint exchange network compare to that based on obsidian, which developed in and around the Aegean Basin; and (iv) what and where were the origins of the Balkan flint network and the formal tools associated with it?

This paper presents the somewhat unexpected findings of a preliminary archaeometric study of ‘painted’ early Neolithic pottery from the site of Dzhulyunitsa, north central Bulgaria. While there is still no consensus on the actual model of Neolithisation of this region, expectations are that there would have been a transfer of pottery technology and possible small quantities of painted pottery from the West Anatolian homeland to early Neolithic sites in Bulgaria. However, our findings confound these expectations. Pottery from the earliest levels of the site are all based on local materials: there are no imported wares. There is no evidence of the experimental phase that would be expected as migrant potters learned to adjust to local clays. Instead the pottery is of a very high quality from the outset, using naturally fine clays that do not require temper: though organic material is sometimes added, albeit often in non-functional quantities. What were thought to be dark-painted layers are shown to be simply the high-quality burnishes that can be developed using these micaceous local clays: in some cases with outer surfaces enhanced with ochre. White-slipped and white-on red decorated sherds from the second layer of the site continue to showcase a mastery of local materials, with white pigments base on nearby limestones and marls. But here, petrographic analysis identifies some white-painted wares which are clearly not local, with both bodies and paint compositions pointing to a different provenance and technology. As it continues, this project aims to establish the full range of Dzhulyunitsa pottery fabrics to reconstruct manufacturing technologies and raw material sourcing patterns, for comparison with contemporary sites across the region.

Following the assumption that the Neolithic witnessed the first widespread appearance of permanent houses and households, in line with the adoption of sedentism, this article examines the relevance of residential and construction practices to our understanding of the process of Neolithic expansion from Anatolia to the Balkans. Three practices, with a broad spatial distribution, are reviewed: house burning, the vertical superimposition of houses and intra-settlement burial. The article first outlines the basis of a contextual method to retrieve practices from material patterning left in the record, such as burnt houses for the practice of intentional house burning. The next section delves into the similarities in practices between Neolithic communities in Anatolia, Thrace and Greece, during the 7th and 6th millennia BC cal. to suggest that: 1) house burning was a key strategy to bring houses to ‘closure’ at the end of their use-lives; 2) people took advantage of the stability of extant houses to build new houses atop; and 3) this practice was closely connected with the burial of the dead in, or in close proximity to, houses. Common attitudes to residence and construction across a vast array of sites underpin similarities in house form and house use patterns. To conclude, the discussion highlights the need for a dynamic approach, based on comparative time-lines of practices, to determine the direction of spread.

The study presents archaeobotanical analyses of four Early Neolithic sites (Koprivets, Orlovets, Dzhulyunitsa, Samovodene) from Northeast Bulgaria. Those archaeobotanical data are linked to comprehensive series of 14C dates for the early Neolithic in northeastern Bulgaria allowing their attribution to high resolution radiocarbon chronology. In the considered sites the dominating cereal crop during the Early Neolithic is hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare var. vulgare), followed by einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and few emmer (Triticum dicoccum) what is a clear difference from the southern parts of Bulgaria where during the early Neolithic the dominating cereal crops are einkorn and emmer. Further principal crops, present from the earliest phases of the Neolithic in the region are lentil – Lens culinaris, pea – Pisum sativum, grass pea – Lathyrus sativus/cicera and flax – Linum usitatissimum. Wide spectrum of finds of gathered plants (at least 11 taxa) reflects the use of the natural vegetation resources. Useful for reconstructing the vegetation and land use in the Neolithic are also wood charcoal identifications, indicating apart of oak forests also presence of open vegetation, riparian forests and wetlands. The relatively open vegetation in the surrounding of the early Neolithic settlements could be one of the reasons why the corresponding locations were chosen by the Neolithic people to settle there. On the other hand this open vegetation could be caused by the Neolithic land use and animal husbandry, which have also led to certain reduction of the forests in the immediate surroundings of the settlements.